Latest news with #Streetwave
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Almost half of Britain cannot browse internet because of poor mobile signal
Britain's mobile coverage is so patchy that almost half the country struggles to browse the internet, data have revealed. The four mobile network operators have 'acceptable' coverage across just 55pc of the country's landmass on average, leaving large swathes of the population with sluggish connections, according to figures compiled by mobile data firm Streetwave. The research appears to underscore concerns among Britons that shoddy mobile signal is frustrating consumers and damaging productivity. Kester Mann, an analyst at CCS Insight, said the analysis 'highlights, once again, the disappointing performance of UK mobile networks'. He added: 'This is a combination of several factors, including a lack of investment from the industry, the mandated swap-out of equipment from Huawei, environmental push-back against the deployment of new masts and burdensome planning restrictions.' The research found significant disparity between the performance of the UK's four mobile networks. EE's coverage levels were the highest at 69pc, followed by Vodafone at 61pc. O2's acceptable coverage reached just 50pc, while Three lagged well behind on 38pc. Overall, however, the results for all providers are below the official data compiled by regulator Ofcom in September stating geographic 4G coverage is in the range of 88pc to 89pc. Sir Terry Matthews, the Welsh billionaire and an investor in Streetwave, said the data were 'enabling the industry to have a candid conversation around how coverage can be improved in the UK, while empowering consumers to make informed choices about which mobile network best meets their needs'. An operator is considered to have 'acceptable' coverage where their network provides users with 5 Mbps download speeds, 2 Mbps upload speeds, and latency below 40ms on any connection ranging from 2G to 5G. These are the speeds at which most mobile functions including browsing the internet, streaming videos and joining conference calls can be carried out. Any drop below this level would be likely to result in a compromised user experience, such as videos buffering and images taking time to load. The survey was conducted in 113 councils across the UK, representing 37pc of the UK's geography and around 19m people. It was carried out by attaching signal readers to rubbish collection lorries, measuring mobile performance outside virtually every home and business in each council area. Mobile UK, which represents mobile network operators, said it disputed the findings of the research. A spokesman said: 'While we acknowledge that all models, including our own, involve predictive elements, Streetwave's conclusions are based on an extremely limited dataset, derived from just a third of councils across four nations, and are heavily skewed towards rural, low-population density areas. This significantly restricts its applicability to the broader UK mobile landscape. 'While we do not agree with these findings it once again puts in sharp focus the need for the Government to better prioritise mobile deployment in its policy making.' An Ofcom spokesman said: 'Streetwave's coverage data isn't directly comparable to ours, which comes from mobile network operators' predictions and may not always match people's real-world experience at a very local level. 'We're working hard to improve the data we use, and we will relaunch our mobile coverage checker later this year with new and improved information to better reflect what people can expect.' Poor mobile connectivity has become a major political issue, with MPs lining up to bemoan patchy coverage, especially in rural areas. The first stage of a £1bn government-backed project to stamp out so-called 'not spots' in rural areas has now been completed and a target of reaching 95pc of the UK's landmass with at least one provider by the end of the year has already been met. However, ministers are now discussing watering down the second stage of the programme, the Shared Rural Network, in a move that is likely to anger mobile companies. Vodafone and Three are in the process of combining in a £15bn merger that will create the UK's largest mobile network. The companies have long argued that the tie-up was necessary to upgrade the country's sluggish 5G connectivity. Angus Hay, the chief executive of Streetwave, said: 'A collaborative approach is needed to improve mobile connectivity across the UK. This includes continued private and public investment into the networks, as well as local efforts by councils and planning authorities to support infrastructure investments. 'Our findings raise significant questions around whether there is need for an extension to the Shared Rural Network programme to further support rural communities.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
01-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Almost half of Britain cannot browse internet because of poor mobile signal
Britain's mobile coverage is so patchy that almost half the country struggles to browse the internet, data have revealed. The four mobile network operators have 'acceptable' coverage across just 55pc of the country's landmass on average, leaving large swathes of the population with sluggish connections, according to figures compiled by mobile data firm Streetwave. The research appears to underscore concerns among Britons that shoddy mobile signal is frustrating consumers and damaging productivity. Kester Mann, an analyst at CCS Insight, said the analysis 'highlights, once again, the disappointing performance of UK mobile networks'. He added: 'This is a combination of several factors, including a lack of investment from the industry, the mandated swap-out of equipment from Huawei, environmental push-back against the deployment of new masts and burdensome planning restrictions.' The research found significant disparity between the performance of the UK's four mobile networks. EE's coverage levels were the highest at 69pc, followed by Vodafone at 61pc. O2's acceptable coverage reached just 50pc, while Three lagged well behind on 38pc. Overall, however, the results for all providers are below the official data compiled by regulator Ofcom in September stating geographic 4G coverage is in the range of 88pc to 89pc.
BBC News
15-03-2025
- BBC News
Worcestershire losing millions to poor mobile coverage
Poor mobile phone coverage in Worcestershire is costing hundreds of millions of pounds in lost productivity, a survey has news comes after a project, which began in October, saw signal trackers fitted to bin lorries as a means of mapping the county's mobile signal found more than 10% of postcodes in the county did not have useable coverage, contradicting the official Ofcom data, based on reports by mobile phone operators, which says the figure is 0.01%.The Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, Bradley Thomas, said he would be calling for a parliamentary debate on the issue, which is costing the county £226m a year, councillors were told on Friday. "Good, strong, stable mobile phone coverage is as essential to connectivity as any other utility," said Thomas."We've got to up the ante on the mobile phone companies to make sure that they're aware that the connection in Worcestershire is not as good as they say it is." Councillor Adam Kent, cabinet member for the economy, said "countless" residents had raised the issue with him."We've seen the investment in Worcestershire across broadband, where we've been pushing to get gigabyte coverage for everybody – but at the same time, the mobile phone network seems to have dropped off a cliff," he said."We've got to get the actual data that the mobile phone companies are saying is correct, and then really… we've got to lobby government to take the action to get this improved." George Gibson. from Streetwave, which provided the technology to collect the data, said it was a UK-wide problem."Our findings highlight the significant gap between modelled data and actual user experience," he said. "People deserve to know the truth about their mobile coverage, and this research gives us the evidence to push for real improvements." 'Imperative to effect change' Kent said the council was working with operators, but there was a limit to what it could do."What we've got now with this data is the evidence," he said. "We've now got to take the evidence to government and we've got to say something is wrong here."It's absolutely imperative that data now is used to effect change."Thomas confirmed he would call for a parliamentary debate on the issue."I'm going to be playing my role to hold the government, mobile phone companies and the regulator to account to make sure that the service gets better." Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
